Posted on 06/28/2017 5:47:11 PM PDT by Pinkbell
WASHINGTON — With his bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act in deep trouble, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, raised an alternate possibility on Tuesday evening: Either Republicans come together in the days ahead, or he may have to work with Democrats to shore up the deteriorating health law.
That raised a tantalizing prospect: bipartisanship.
The idea is not that far-fetched. For years, Republicans and Democrats have explored avenues for changing or improving President Barack Obama’s health care law, from modest tweaks like raising the size threshold at which businesses must offer their employees health insurance to larger revisions involving how the marketplaces created under the act operate.
Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate health committee, has said he would like to draft legislation geared toward stabilizing the marketplaces and providing a temporary continuation of subsidies paid to insurance companies to offset out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, in announcing her opposition to the proposed Republican health care bill, said she wanted to work with members of both parties to “fix the flaws in” the Affordable Care Act.
But any change to the existing law is likely to require Mr. McConnell’s participation — and Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s consent. And before that happens, an all-Republican effort to repeal the health law may have to die a public death.
“At this stage,” said Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, “there is general agreement among Democrats that it would be premature to meet with Republicans. We have to know that this repeal bill is dead.”
Nearly everyone preaches the virtues of bipartisanship in Congress these days, but on the big issues that define the two parties, few practice it.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Options at this point:
1. Respond to the polling, let Obamacare die, and then swoop in to fix it.
Possible Problem - Republicans get blamed for Obamacare's failure because they didn't pass a bill and Democrats come in.
2. Pass the bill. The conservatives may have to compromise and realize this is the best they can get for now from a conservative standpoint because this could go the other way.
Possible Problem - The Republicans now own the bill, and the media has the narrative. Every single sad case will be exploited, and that could help the Democrats.
3. Put together a great bill with all the free market solutions (the type of bill that will require 60 votes), so it doesn't have to be done in phases (people are skeptical of phases getting through). Keep the Medicaid in place (this takes all the left's arguments away) and subsidies for poor and elderly for the time being. Hopefully, the free market solutions will kick in and lower the costs. This completely takes the Democrat complaints away. Put it before a vote, Dems don't vote for it, it bombs, it's on the Dems.
Possible Problem - Again, it's still possible the media will contend that it bombed but that the Republican bill is worse than Obamacare. Republicans get the blame for not getting healthcare done. Dems get in, and we have no chance to do anything.
Smells like wishful thinking by fake news NY SLIMES.
Uh, it doesn’t repeal....
They should flat out repeal it then have bipartisanship to add back what they want piece by piece.
They will never have bipartisanship without completely selling out to Democrats otherwise.
The Turtle can actually be a shrewd operator at times. He just threw down the gauntlet in front of Cruz, Lee, Rand, et al: get on board or I’ll do what I have to to get Democratic votes.
I think one of the reasons the House got something together was because the Freedom Caucus got concerned when Trump threw out a trial balloon about working with Democrats.
They would need 60 for a full repeal, though. Dems won’t do it, and even if McConnell went nuclear, the moderates probably wouldn’t vote for it.
There is no chance of working with any democrat on anything that would actually improve this country because democrats don’t want to actually improve this country. The want to destroy it. So there is no chance of working with them. None.
Sen. Shelly Moor Capito (Q* WV) said today she will not vote for the bill as written.
Note, nearly 10% of the population of WV, 172,605 are on Expanded Medicaid. These people for the most part call it “Obamacare” and think of it as such. They fear losing it if the Senate bill is passed. (They wouldn’t) Capito, a windsock if ever there was one, has been inundated with calls to vote “NO”.....and so she will.
* Q....Quisling
It’s a toughie.
Allow up to 50% surcharge for ALL pre-existing conditions (not just for smoking) is a good idea.
No one is hurt badly and it is more fair, will result in lower premiums for most.
BTW: Fake News from the NYTimes of course.
No they don’t, they just need to change the rules.
This was passed against the will of the people, we need a do over.
The only folks that would blame Repubs would be the liberals. Who cares?
Republicans only know capitulation. The agreement should be a full repeal and start over. If they aren’t willing to start over then No deal
“Bipartisanship” is pure BS. LIBs are antithetical to civil society and must be crushed beyond recognition.
And predictably, as ever, they have actually accomplished absolutely nothing. What a bunch of crooks.
Rush excerpt: Try this thought. Did Mitch McConnell put a Trojan bill, Trojan horse in front of the CBO? In other words, did he purposely write a bill that would create this CBO score? (imitating whiny lib) “Your bill is going to cost $22 billion and cost 400 million lives” or whatever it says. So that he could learn why and how they scored it the way they did.
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2017/06/28/my-theory-on-mcconnell-is-all-the-rage/
I don’t understand what is wrong with repealing this turkey and passing laws that would serve the majority of the people. I am so tired of being swindled by the RINOs.
30 Percent Of W.Va. Families On Medicaid
Just scratched WV from our list of places to move after escaping NYS.
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